Australia Retail Sales Rise 0.3% In February

(RTTNews) - The total value of retail sales in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at A$35.869 billion.

That was in line with expectations following the 1.1 percent increase in January.

By category, sales were up for clothing (4.2 percent), department stores (2.3 percent) and cafes and restaurants (0.5 percent). Sales were down for food (-0.1 percent), household goods (-0.8 percent) and other retailing (-0.4 percent).

On a yearly basis, retail sales climbed 1.6 percent.